Distribution box

ABSTRACT

A reusable container having a cover readily attachable to and detachable from the base section. The side walls of the cover overlap the side walls of the base. The container is characterized by an inwardly extending projection on the overlapping side wall portion of the cover, and an outwardly extending projection on the overlapped portion of the base. When the cover is in place these projections mate with openings in the overlapped portion of the base and in the overlapping portion of the cover, respectively. The container is particularly useful in transferring small stock items from a warehouse to a display or retail area and readily lends itself to locking the cover to the base to thereby prevent unauthorized opening or pilferage during transit.

United States Patent Goldman 1541 DISTRIBUTION BOX [72] lnventor: Joseph Goldman, Minneapolis,

Minn.

[73] Assignee: Logistics Industries Corporation,

Philadelphia, Pa. [22] Filed: April 15,1971

[21] Appl. No.: 134,223

[52] US. Cl. ..229/45, 220/31 R, 217/56 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 45/00 [58] Field of Search ..220/19, 83, 31 P, 31 S, 97 F; 217/56; 229/45, 43

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 882,094 3/1908 Boyd ..220/31 R X 886,530 5/1908 Mesternacher ..220/31 'R X 2,939,624 6/ 1960 Wilson ..229/45 X 2,944,364 7/1960 Kelly ..220/31 R X 3,379,341 4/1968 Miles ..220/97 F FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,081,641 5/1960 Germany ..220/31 R [15] 3,685,719 51 Aug. 22, 1972 Primary Examiner-Davis T. Moorhead Attorney-Frederick E. Lange, William C. Babcock and Eugene L. Johnson [57] ABSTRACT A reusable container having a cover readily attachable to and detachable from the base section. The side walls of the cover overlap the side walls of the base. The container is characterized by an inwardly extending projection on the overlapping side wall portion of the cover, and an outwardly extending projection on the overlapped portion of the base. When the cover is in place these projections mate with openings in the overlapped portion of the base and in the overlapping portion of the cover, respectively. The container is particularly useful in transferring small stock items .from a warehouse to a display or retail area and readily lends itself to locking the cover to the base to thereby prevent unauthorized opening or pilferage during transit. i

8 Clains, 4 Drawing Ih'gures PATENTEmuszz I872 3.685.719

.sHEn 1. BF 2 Josep GOLDMAN BY ATT RNEY [NVL'NTOR I DISTRIBUTION BOX BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to the field of reusable containers. More particularly, it relates to containers in which the cover may be readily secured to and detached from the base to provide for convenient loading and unloading. The cover, when closed, may be locked to the base, to thereby secure the items in the container against pilferage.

Prior art containers such as that shown in the Barnes U.S. Pat. No. 803,966 have been designed with outwardly extending projections on the base portion which extend into or mate with the overlapping portion of the cover section. Conversely, prior art containers such as Pflugradt et a1. U.S. Pat. No. 710,392 have been designed with inwardly extending projections on the overlapping portion of the cover that mate with an opening in the overlapped portion of the base section. These prior art patents do not suggest combining an inwardly extending projection on the overlapped portion of the cover with an outwardlyextending projection on the overlapped portion of the base section with each cooperating with mating openings in the base and cover sections, respectively, to secure'the cover to the base. The inwardly extending projection on the cover and the outwardly extending projection on the base cooperate to provide ease of attachment of the cover to the base section while, at the same time, providing for a high degree of security. Prior art containers do not include a wire reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the marginal edge of the side wall of both the cover and the base and, moreover, do not teach an integral construction of the circurnferentially extending reinforcing members and the projections. Such a design simplifies the construction of the container, provides over the prior art. The cover may be readily secured to the base section without the need of any additional fasteners in a way which prevents or eliminates undesired disengagement. Moreover, the cover can be substantial reinforcement necessary if the container is to be reused to the maximum possible extent,- provides for maximum security against unauthorized opening and pilferage and provides a positive, yet easily opened relationship between the cover and the base section. Prior art containers lack the strength (particularly at the edges of the side walls) of the present invention, they lack the ease of construction and ease of securing the cover to the base in a manner which prevents unauthorized opening or pilferage.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a container having a base section and a side walled cover section, the side walls of the cover section overlapping at least a portion of the base section when the cover section is in place. An inwardly extending projection is disposed on the overlapped side wall of the cover section. An outwardly extending projection is disposed on the overlapped portion of the base section. An opening in the base section is disposed substantially diametrically opposite the outwardly extending projection and is attached to accommodate the inwardly extending projections of the cover section when the cover section is in place on top of the base section. There is a corresponding opening in the side wall of the cover section disposed substantially diametrically opposite the inwardly extending projection and the opening is adapted to accommodate the outwardly extending projection of the base section when the cover section is in place. A reinforcing positively locked to the base section (through the use of conventional locking means such as a padlock) thereby preventing removal until the lock is opened. An additional advantage of the present invention is that it is reinforced around the periphery of both the cover and the base section. This means that it may be used over and over a maximum number of times without destruction. The reinforcement also contributes to the security of the container when the cover is locked to the base section. The invention has the further advantage over the prior art in that the properties may be achieved without undue complication in construction.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a reusable container having a cover readily attachable to and detachable from the base which may be readily secured against undesired opening.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the reusable container which comprises thepresent invention with the cover removed from the base section and with a portion of both the base and cover cut away.

FIG. 2 is an end view of the container with the cover in place on the base.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 2. In FIG. 3 the cover is in place on the base and a portion of the sidewall has been cut away.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the construction of the container in greater detail. In FIG. 4 a portion of the cover side wall and a portion of the base side wall has been cut away.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED Y EMBODIMENT The preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown generally in FIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 1, Distribution Box 10 includes base section 11 and cover section 12. Base section 11 is formed from sheet material which has been blanked and folded to define a basket or container shaped section having a bottom 13, side walls 14 and end walls 15. Side walls 14 and end walls 15 are held in their walled relationship by means of rivets l6.

The upper peripheral circumference of base section 11 is reinforced by means of a heavy wire 20 which extends circumferentially around the lip of base section 1 1 and defines a U-shaped outwardly extending projection 21 which extends outwardly with respect to the interior of container 10 from a point on end wall 15 that is overlapped by the side wall of the cover section 12 when the container is closed. The specific relationship between side walls 14 and end walls 15, on the one hand, and reinforcing wire 20, on the other hand, is described below in connection with FIG. 4. An opening 22 is formed in end wall 15 diametrically opposite outwardly extending projection 21 for a purpose described below.

Cover section 12 includes a top panel 25, side walls 26 and end walls 27. Like the circumferential marginal portion of base section 11, the lip of cover section 12 is reinforced by reinforcing wire 30 which extends circumferentially around its periphery in close proximity to side walls 26 and end walls 27. Reinforcing wire 30 defines an inwardly extending U-shaped projection 31 extending inwardly with respect to the interior of container from a point on end wall 27 that overlaps end wall of base section 11 when the container 10 is closed. End wall 27 opposite inwardly extending projection 31 with wire defines an opening 32 for a purpose described below.

Hand holes are formed in each end wall 15 for ease in lifting the container.

Top section 12 is secured to base section 11, that is, the container is closed, by inserting inwardly extending projection 31 into opening 22, and swinging or pivoting cover section 12 downwardly so that side walls 26 and As best seen in FIG. 4, inwardly extending projection 31 includes a portion 31a extending inwardly and parallel to top wall 25 of cover section 12, and a portion 31b which extends in a direction transverse to and away from top wall 25 (downwardly as viewed in FIG. 4). This elbow in inwardly extending projection 31 serves to secure cover section 12 to base section 11 by preventing disengagement of projection 31 from opening 22 by pressure directed inwardly against end wall 15. In other words, without downwardly extending portion 31b, projection 31 would have to be formed with greater length to prevent opening of the container by deforming end wall 15 inwardly to thereby allow pro- 15 jection 31 to clear opening 22.

end walls 27 of cover section 12 overlap the side walls 14 and end walls 15 of base section 11. To complete the placement of cover section 12 on base section 11, end wall 15 having outwardly extending projection 21 disposed therein, is deformed or pushed inwardly to allow reinforcing wire 30 in the vicinity of opening 32 to pass over outwardly extending projection 21 and to be seated and secured thereunder. The natural resiliency of end wall 15 derived from both the sheet material and wire 20 insures that end wall 15 assumes its original position after wire 30 passes over projection 21. In this manner cover section 12 is secured to base section 11.

If desired, cover section 12 may be locked in its associated relationship with base section 11 by inserting a locking device, such as a padlock (not shown) into U- shaped outwardly extending projection 21 after cover section 12 has been locked thereunder. The provision of a locking means such as a padlock thus prevents wire 30 in the vicinity of opening 32 from passing over projection 21.

The specific construction of Distribution Box 10 may be best understood with reference to FIG. 4. Side walls 14 of base section 11 are secured to bottom 13 and end walls 15 by means of rivets 16 which pass through flap portions 17 and end walls 15. The marginal peripheral mouth of base section 11 is defined by flap portions 18 of side walls 14 and end walls 15 which are folded downwardly about reinforcing wire 20 and riveted into place. Reinforcing wire 20 is thus enveloped and secured circumferentially around the mouth of base section 1 1.

The flap portion 18 of end walls 15 is formed with a substantial excess length to allow a fold to be made in registration with the upper edge of hand hole 35 and secured in place by rivets 16. Thus, the upper edge of hand hole 35 is reinforced and thickened to provide a better gripping surface.

Reinforcing wire 30 of top section 12 is similarly enveloped in the circumferential peripheral portion of side walls 26 and end walls 27 by flap portions 28 which are folded and secured in position by rivets 41.

The foregoing invention provides a number of advantages over prior art containers. Cover section 12 may be conveniently secured to base section 11 by inserting projection 31 into opening 22, swinging or pivoting cover section 12 downwardly to mate projection 21 with opening 32. The downwardly extending portion 31b of projection 31 prevents pushing end wall 15 and opening 22 out of its mating relationship with projection 31 and conventional locking means may be used to prevent a comparable disengagement of projection 21 from opening 32. Reinforcing wires 20 and 30 contribute to the security and endurance of the container. The container may be readily opened by opening the conventional locking means (if used) and by deforming end wall 15 inwardly to allow wire 30 to clear projection 21. All these advantages are provided with a design that minimizes production steps and use of material.

Variations may be made in the present invention without departing from the scope which is to be measured by the following claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a container having a base section and a sidewalled cover section, the side walls of the cover section overlapping at least a portion of the base section when the cover section is in place, the improvement comprismg:

an inwardly extending projection disposed on the overlapping side wall of the cover section;

an outwardly extending projection disposed on the overlapped portion of the base section;

an opening in the base section disposed substantially diametrically opposite the outwardly extending projection and adapted to accommodate the inwardly extending projection of the cover section whenthe cover section is in place; and

an opening in the side wall of the cover section disposed substantially diametrically opposite the inwardly extending projection and adapted to accommodate the outwardly extending projection of the base section when the cover section is in place.

2. The container of claim 1 and a cover reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the cover section in proximity to the side wall.

3. The container of claim 2 wherein the inwardly extending projection is formed integrally with the cover reinforcing member.

4. The container of claim 1 and a base reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the base section.

5. The container of claim 4 wherein the outwardly 7. The container of claim 1 wherein the base section extending projection is formed integrally with the base includes side walls extending around the circumference reinforcing member. thereof.

6. The container of claim 1 wherein the inwardly ex- The container of Claim 7 and a base reinforcing tending portion includes aportion extending parallel to 5 m f extenfliifg circumfelemia-uy around the base the cover and a portion extending transversely to and Seem" Proxmmy to h slde Wall thereofaway from the cover. 

1. In a container having a base section and a side-walled cover section, the side walls of the cover section overlapping at least a portion of the base section when the cover section is in place, the improvement comprising: an inwardly extending projection disposed on the overlapping side wall of the cover section; an outwardly extending projection disposed on the overlapped portion of the base section; an opening in the base section disposed substantially diametrically opposite the outwardly extending projection and adapted to accommodate the inwardly extending projection of the cover section when the cover section is in place; and an opening in the side wall of the cover section disposed substantially diametrically opposite the inwardly extending projection and adapted to accommodate the outwardly extending projection of the base section when the cover section is in place.
 2. The container of claim 1 and a cover reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the cover section in proximity to the side wall.
 3. The container of claim 2 wherein the inwardly extending projection is formed integrally with the cover reinforcing member.
 4. The container of claim 1 and a base reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the base section.
 5. The container of claim 4 wherein the outwardly extending projection is formed integrally with the base reinforcing member.
 6. The container of claim 1 wherein the inwardly extending portion includes a portion extending parallel to the cover and a portion extending transversely to and away from the cover.
 7. The container of claim 1 wherein the base section includes side walls extending around the circumference thereof.
 8. The container of claim 7 and a base reinforcing member extending circumferentially around the base section in proximity to the side wall thereof. 